Colorado in the playoffs: Day 6
A daily news recap from the Avalanche camp during their run in the playoffs.Let’s get back to some events that happened yesterday and to a couple of interesting facts. Game-day practice didn’t bring anything interesting, as the most significant things occurred prior to the opening faceoff – Sam Girard apparently sustained an upper-body injury and didn’t play in the Avalanche’s second game of their first-round series against the Nashville Predators. Colorado’s best player in game one was out. A catastrophic blow. It’s almost unbelievable what the Avs had to endure not only this season, but during past seasons as well in terms of injuries. Injuries to key players can destroy and derail any team. Now, the Avs have three key players out of the lineup – Semyon Varlamov, Erik Johnson and the aforementioned Girard. Tyson Barrie was also very close to being injured after a dirty hit in the opening game of the series – the hit wasn’t reviewed and Ryan Johansen will not face any supplemental disciplinary hearing, much to the dismay of many Avs fans.
Furthermore, there has been a number of questionable calls made by the official during the series. Fact is that these calls have gone both ways. But looking, PK Subban’s block on Barrie’s shot, which led to a Predators counterattack goal, could’ve easily been called a tripping minor, as softer penalties were already called in this series. The combination of being an outsiders, one of the less-interesting markets in today’s NHL, questionable calls from the refs and a rising number of key players seems like too much of a challenge for the Avs to overcome.
Big Subban block sparks Johansen’s goal pic.twitter.com/HnisDHsPUv
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 14, 2018
Nonetheless, Colorado’s still having a great season, something no one can take from the team and its fans. The Avs have the least experienced team in the postseason this year by far, as the combined number of playoff games of all its players is 175. In comparison, other teams are nearing the thousand-game mark.
Getting back to Girard’s situation, we can’t really expect much in terms of updates. The injury is supposedly day-to-day. As is any other injury during the playoffs. No team will tell the whole truth during the postseason. All injuries will be either upper- or lower-body injuries. And pretty much all injuries will be deemed day-to-day. This means that Girard could get back into the lineup as soon as Monday, or he could easily be out for the rest of the season. What happened and when still remains a mystery. We will probably know more after the team hits the ice for practice in Denver.
In other news…
The President’s Trophy-winning Predators have been far from dominant in the first two games of the series. A lot of bounces have gone their way, resulting in soft goals, either following said fortunate bounces, or mistakes made by the Avs. If Colorado can learn from its mistakes, they can be a formidable opponent for the powerhouse Predators. BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater chose a great title for his article published after yesterday’s game – The Predators aren’t beating the Avalanche, the Avalanche are beating the Avalanche. The Avs have now lost 12 games in row against Nashville, with the series dating back to April 2016.
Reporters are asking questions about Colorado’s defensive corps. David Warsofsky has been quite underwhelming so far and Mark Alt could get a look on defense as the series comes to Denver. Former first-round pick Duncan Siemens filled in for the injured Girard, making his playoff debut.
The Denver Post spoke with Avs President Josh Kroenke about the Avs’ season. When asking about the Matt Duchene trade, Kroenke began by saying “I don’t want to say his name…” This serves as further proof that the relationship between Duchene and the Avs brass got pretty ugly as time went by and that bridges were burned.
Did you know that since the 2004-05 lockout, Colorado made the playoffs six times in 13 seasons?
More number – Colorado has been 0-2 in a playoff series four times in franchise history. In 1999, the Avs were down two games to none against Detroit in the second round, yet the Avs managed to win four games in row to beat the hated Red Wings. In 2004, San Jose won both games at home, adding one more win at the Pepsi Center, before losing the next two games. Ultimately, the Sharks won Game 6 and ended the Avs’ season in the second round. In 2006, Anaheim swept the Avs in the second round, as did Detroit in 2008.
Original story by David Puchovsky
Michal Hezely, Slovakia, hezely@eurolanche.com
15/04/2018 - 19:00
